Path of Blood

The fight against al-Qaeda in Saudi Arabia as seen through authentic period footage.

Ironical
though it be, this important, searing film is distributed by Trinity
Filmed Entertainment. In point of fact, entertainment is the last word
that one would use to describe Path of Blood,
but that is as it should be for this is a work that takes as its
subject the activities of al-Qaeda in Saudi Arabia between 2003 and
2009. As such it is a document of historical importance and all the
more so because it consists exclusively of authentic footage taken in
those years. The material in question consists of what was shot by
al-Qaeda or of what was taken by the security services and the director
of this film, Jonathan Hacker, adds nothing in the way of fresh visuals.

What
this means is that Hacker's function here was to select from what was
available and to find the most appropriate way in which to present it.
He has done this with skill. To help those without any specialised
knowledge of what is depicted, he uses the voice of Samuel West to
provide off-screen background information regarding what we are being
shown, just enough to give us a context as the history unwinds in
chronological order. What we see is largely shown with subtitles, but
when the source used is Voice of Jihad as presented online by al-Qaeda the relevant words are read in English by Tom Hollander.

Given
the nature of the material, Hacker wisely lets it horrify the viewer of
its own accord. There is no attempt to trigger emotions through the
words spoken by West and Hollander which are deliberately delivered in
a matter-of-fact tone. This effectively sets off the bile from al-Qaeda
while their own images have an effect not intended when they proudly
show young children being made familiar with weapons. Somewhat
similarly, the naivety of the youths keen to be mujahedeens renders
them pitiful, and all the more so when we glimpse some of them playing
games and taking part in races, the natural activities of boys of their
age.

Presumably
because of the many dead bodies shown, the film has an 18 certificate,
but Hacker out of respect rarely shows their faces: most telling here
is the anonymity of some of the corpses, those who die with no known
name. The one fear that one cannot quite throw off when watching Path of Blood
is that potential jihadis, whether over the age of 18 or not, might
look at the al-Qaeda footage here and embrace it despite this being a
film designed to repulse the viewer even as it informs. That point
apart, Hacker's film is welcome as a valuable source for future
historians concerned with this period: its factual accuracy combined
with its many short sequences that take on at times an almost
impressionistic quality convey truly and vividly life as it was in and
around Riyadh during this time.